WORLD NEWS
MBB
to build
Chinese
propfan
HANOVER
MBB and China are to form a
joint company, headquartered
in Hamburg, to design and
develop a 60-80-seat regional
aircraft, the MPC 75 (an
abbreviation of multipurpose
commuter, says MBB).
The agreement to set up a
bureau to co-ordinate joint
activities was signed on June
6 at the Hanover Air Show by
MBB's transport group and
Catic, the import/export arm
of the Chinese Ministry of
Aviation.
MBB, Catic, and engineers
from the Shanghai Aviation
Industrial Corporation
(SAIC) have been engaged in
feasibility studies into the
new airliner since signing a
memorandum of under
standing on October 3, 1985.
Plans call for this study to be
completed by late 1987,
including a market survey and
a detailed breakdown of
the potential co-operation
between Germany and China.
Development is planned to
begin in 1990, leading to certi
fication by the end of 1995.
The likely powerplant is a
pair of 10,000-12,0001b-thrust
unducted fan (UDF) engines,
and MBB has signed an
agreement with General Elec
tric to study the engine, which
would be roughly half the size
of the UDF that GE is now
developing.
Although SAIC is par
ticipating in McDonnell Dou
glas' ultra-high-bypass tech
nology readiness programme,
which includes flight-tests of
GE's UDF and the
Allison/Pratt & Whitney
Prop-Fan, MDC is not part of
the MBB/China programme,
although MBB says it is look
ing for additional partners.
Development of the MPC
75 to certification is expected
to cost $1,200-$1,300 million,
says MBB, with China pro
viding half the funding. A
production line would be
established at Hamburg, with
China supplying sub
assemblies. A Chinese assem
bly line would be established
later, probably at Shanghai.
Maximum take-off weight of the 60-80-seat MBB/China MPC 75 would be 28 tonnes
Soviets
offer Briton
space trip
MOSCOW
An informal offer of a week-
long stay for a British astro
naut on board the Mir space
station has been made by the
Soviet Union.
The offer of a flight next
year or in 1988 came as
Britain's four astronaut can
didates returned to normal
duties following the decision
to launch two of three British
Skynet 4 military commu
nications satellites on Ariane.
Only Sqn Ldr Nigel Wood
keeps the chance of flying on
Shuttle for the deployment of
Skynet 4A, now unlikely to
take place before 1989.
Yet to be made formally by
the Soviet Government, the
offer from Soviet space chief
Lt Gen Georgi Beregovoi
came during a British parlia
mentary visit to cosmonaut
headquarters at Star City.
Grob unveils
new trainer
HANOVER
West German light aircraft
manufacturer Burkhardt
Grob has decided to offer
three models of his new G.115
two-seat trainer. The second
prototype, which has already
logged 31 hours of flight-
testing, is powered by a 116
h.p. Avco Lycoming 0-235. It
cruises at 120kt and has a rate
of climb of 850ft/min, claims
the manufacturer.
Spin tests on the G.115
have now been completed
throughout the e.g. and power
range. No problems were
encountered, and 32 turns
have been safely demon
strated in each direction. This
is of particular significance to
Grob, which lost its earlier
G.110 prototype when it
failed to recover from a spin
some years ago. The aircraft
is well on the way to LBA cer
tification, according to chief
designer Klaus Fischer.
Since the type's first flight
the tail section has been fitted
with a 15cm higher fin and
rudder. The tailplane has
been lowered from the cruci
form position on the first pro
totype, where it suffered from
vibration and where direc
tional stability was inade
quate. This aircraft has now
been broken up, in keeping
with Grob's tradition of rap
idly disposing of any proto
type that fails to meet his
expectations.
Prototype number two is
being offered to the public for
the first time at this week's
Hanover Air Show, ILA '86,
alongside the company's third
prototype, fitted with a 160
h.p. 0-320 and constant-
speed propeller. The latest
model also features wheel
spats. It has been built in only
three weeks, and is yet to fly.
The 116 h.p. version will also
be offered with c/s propeller
at a later date.
The G.115 is designed to
take the company into the
low-cost flying-training mar
ket at a time when major US
manufacturers Piper and
Cessna have admitted defeat
in the face of depressed sales.
Grob uses traditional glass-
fibre moulding techniques,
which have earned the com
pany a leading share of the
European glider and motor-
glider market. He is deter
mined that the G.115 will be
built cheaply, and aims to
reduce the labour content to
500 manhours, from the 1,388
manhours required to build
the G.109B motorglider.
Despite this, the type appears
to have a quality of finish rare
in early prototype aircraft. A
special price of DM99,500 is
being offered for the 116 h.p.
version during the Show.
Three more
TriStars
for RAF
LONDON
Marshall of Cambridge has
been awarded a fixed-price
contract to convert three ex-
Pan Am Lockheed TriStars to
tanker configuration for the
Royal Air Force.
One of the three is at Mar
shall's Cambridge factory,
while the second and third are
being used in the passenger/
freight role by 216 Sqn at RAF
Brize Norton. It was one of
these which was seriously
damaged in a heavy landing
(see Flight, last week, page
14).
The three ex-Pan Am air
craft are considerably differ
ent from the six ex-British
Airways TriStars, and Mar
shall of Cambridge is cur
rently designing the modifi
cations needed to convert the,
aircraft.
FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL, 14 June 1986